10) Before using the template you should save it for future use.

This will allow you to recall this template at any time, saving you the work of re-designing it. To save a template, click on the Pager button again to open the Pager tools. Then, click the Save tool. You will be asked, via a pop-up box, to name a group for your template and a description of the individual template. Just click “return” to save.

Once saved, the template will go into your My Templates window.

Here’s how your My Templates window would look for this layout:

To recall this template at any time in the future you need only double-click on the template and it will open up in your layout box. Then, just drag a fresh set of thumbnail images from your thumbnails into the nodes. You’ll be able to use the Pager tools and Edit tools to create a new, totally “fresh” layout in just minutes.

It’s that easy!

11)Your final step is to add the finished collage to your enlargement order by clicking on the button.

Important note: If you have no image or fill color in the background node you will have one node empty. So, the Add to Order button will be grayed out, preventing you from placing the order. To use the Add to Order button (turning it from gray to color) you will have to depress the Alt key on a PC or the Option key on a Mac. The button will change from gray to color and you will be able to click on it to add the montage to your order.
Now, you will place your order to our laboratory by clicking on the Review Order button. Our ROES program will guide you through the next steps. You’ll have the option of either transmitting your order online or burning it to a CD-R…just as you would any other ROES order.

When your digital files arrive at our laboratory we will individually color correct the color image in each of your nodes, giving you an outstanding enlargement.

Modifying Collage Prints By Editing and Changing Nodes

Let’s take a quick look at examples of how you can easily change this layout to create totally different looks.

How To Create A Solid Background With Reversed Type

Once again we’ll be working on a 16” x 20” Design Your Own enlargement and utilizing the Pager button to activate the tools you need to make changes.

Here are the steps:

1)Click on the Edit buttonand select the background node.

2)Click on the Fill button and select a black swatch. (Note that you can select any color.) Then, lower your opacity setting to taste using the Fill slider. In this example we’ve set the opacity to about 120 to create a gray background rather than a black one.

A Design Your Own
16” x 20” Collage With A
Modified Black Background And Text

4) Save your template design into My Templates for future use by clicking on the Save tool as we’ve done previously so that you can use this variation on your template at any time by just recalling it and dropping in images.

Creating Collage Prints With Photographic Backgrounds  

Adding a Color Background

By selecting the background node (with the Edit tool)and dragging in a thumbnail image you are able to fill the background with a photograph.

One of the more effective techniques is to bring in a photograph and then use the Opacity tool to lighten it to give a subtle backdrop to your image nodes. You will use the slider that appears when the Opacity tool is activated to lighten your background to your taste.

Note that we’re going to be deleting the gray background and changing the color of the type back to the sampled red. The background has been zoomed in to provide a non-distracting pattern. The photographed used was the baby with the hat that we have in the upper left-hand corner.

Here is the drag-and-drop operation to bring in the background images.

Finished Collage With White Strokes on a Color Photographic Background At Lightened Opacity

 

Save your template design into My Templates for future use by clicking on the Save tool as we’ve done previously so that you can use this variation on your template at any time by just recalling it and dropping in images.

Changing a Color Background to Black & White

A popular technique used to accentuate the color images in collages is to change the background color to black and white. You can also convert any picture node within the collage to black and white by simply selecting it and clicking on a B&W radio button..

1) Select the background node with the Edit tool.Drag in a thumbnail image you will be able to fill the background with a photograph. The photograph in the background will be in color.
2) With the background node selected, click on the Node tool.


This node option window will open.

3) Choose neutral B&W, warm B&W or Sepia by clicking on one of the round radio buttons. The color background will turn to the black and white tone you have chosen. In our example we’ve chosen B&W.

4) Click on the Opacity tool and use the slider to lighten your black and white image node. Here is how this collage would look with the color photograph converted to a B&W background, with lightened opacity:

Finished Collage With White Strokes on
a Black & White Photographic Background

Saving Designed Layouts

Since a lot of effort goes into creating a collage it always makes sense for you to save variations of your designs that you’re likely to use for your work for future work. This will allow you to recall your template at any time, saving you the time and effort of re-designing it.
So once again you will click on the Pager button to open the Pager tools. Then you’ll click on the button. You will be asked, via a pop-up window, to name a group for your template and a description of the individual template. Once saved, the template will go into your My Templates window.

Here’s how all four of the templates we’ve saved would on our current layout would look in you’re My Templates window:

Since we’ve saved all the variations of this template we can save a considerable amount of time on future jobs by simply double-clicking on the desired graphic in the My Templates window to bringing it into our layout window.

Now we only need to drag-and-drop thumbnails into the template for a totally “fresh” montage.

We would only have to toggle the Pager and use its tools if we wanted to change the template for the new job. We could, for example, change the shapes of the pictures or their rotation. Then, we could save the revised template as still another variation for future use.

By following this approach you’ll soon have a great library of collage templates…and a lot of spare time to do the other things your successful photo studio needs!